The purpose of this thesis is to examine the trends in Alabama voting which have occurred since V. O. Key's classic study of the problem in 1949; particular emphasis is placed upon the impact on Alabama politics of the growing Negro vote since the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

This thesis has detailed the political activity of the influential Republicans in relation to the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Contained in the thesis are: a brief description of events in Selma, Alabama in early 1965 that illustrated the continued existence of voting discrimination after the passage of three civil rights bills in eight years; response of GOP members of Congress to the awareness that previous measures enforcing the Fifteenth Amendment were ineffective; Republican efforts to enact a voting rights bill and an interpretation of Republican political behavior relating to the Voting Rights Act of 1965.